Method and apparatus to determine golf ball trajectory and flight

Abstract

A launch monitor system including a support structure, a first light-reflecting element disposed on this support structure, a lighting unit and an camera unit. A computer receives signals generated by light patterns received by the camera unit and computes a variety of flight characteristics for the object. The system may be moved back and forth to vary the field-of-view of the camera unit. The system also computes and displays object trajectories from the computed flight characteristics which account for the characteristics of the object and the atmospheric conditions.

What is claimed:  
     
       1. A method of processing images of a golf ball having markers comprising the steps of: 
       capturing at least one bright image of the golf ball;  
       dividing the image into a plurality of pixels;  
       assigning a color to each pixel, the assigned color being either a first color if the pixel has a brightness above a predetermined threshold level or another color if the pixel has a brightness below the predetermined threshold level;  
       connecting adjacent pixels of the first color to form bright areas;  
       corresponding the pixels to identify the markers on the object; and  
       calculating the location of the markers from the at least one image.  
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the capturing step further comprises the steps of: 
       capturing a first pair of images on a first image frame of a first camera; and  
       capturing a second pair of images on a second image frame of a second camera.  
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the calculating step further comprises the step of mathematically comparing the first pair of images with the second pair of images. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the corresponding step further comprises the step of eliminating extraneous pixels from the image. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining at least one of the transverse velocity and spin rate of the golf ball. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dividing includes dividing the image into rows and columns of pixels. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , wherein the dividing further includes dividing the image into 753 pixels by 244 pixels. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
       determining if any of the bright areas are aberrant bright areas; and  
       ignoring the aberrant bright areas.  
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , wherein the determining includes determining whether any of the bright areas have an area outside a predetermined range of areas. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of calculating the centers of the markers. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of calculating the centers of the markers comprises performing a plurality of summations for the areas of brightness and calculating net moments about two axes. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , wherein about 105 pixels correspond to one marker. 
     
     
       13. A method of processing images of a golf ball having at least one marker comprising the steps of: 
       capturing at least one image of the golf ball;  
       dividing the image into a plurality of pixels;  
       corresponding an area of the pixels with the marker on the golf ball;  
       calculating the location of the marker on the golf ball from the at least one image.  
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , further comprising the step of calculating the center of the area corresponding to the marker on the golf ball. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the step of calculating the center of the area corresponding to the marker on the golf ball comprises performing a plurality of summations for the area and calculating net moments about two axes. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 13 , further comprising the step of excluding extraneous pixels from the area corresponding to the marker on the golf ball. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 13 , further comprising determining the principle axis of the area corresponding to the marker on the ball; 
       calculating a ratio of the principle axis of the area corresponding to the marker on the ball; and  
       eliminating the area of pixels if the ratio of the principle axis exceeds a predetermined value.